KK1421 Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas Rio Tambo

KK1421 Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas Rio Tambo

This plant is fairly interesting though it has absolutely nothing in common to the plant that was originally described as the now defunct name “Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas”. Knize collected this nice Trichocereus near the Rio Tambo and apart from the pics, I lack any other information.

All those pics are from K.Trout, who got some of those directly from Knize.

Here is another plant that was labeled as KK1421 Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas. It is definitely different to the first plant we know. However, I lack any other information about that plant. It is definitely from the Cuzcoensis complex but that´s obvious.

If you compare those two plants to the plant that was originally described as Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas, it gets obvious that they are all different plants. The plant in the link was actually a Weberbauerocereus. The seed and the flower are so unlike the ones on any other Trichocereus that it´s absolutely obvious that it´s not a Trichocereus. Unlike the two plants on this page, which Knize gave the same name. But that´s a different story. The original Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas (you know, the one from the link, which actually is a Weberbauerocereus) is said to grow east of Mollendo in the Department Arequipa and occurs from Chala to the Rio Tambo in the south. And that´s where KK1421 is said to originate from. Rio Tambo. Which is a good indicator why the KK names sometimes don´t match the described species they should actually represent. Just because there are Trichos near the Rio Tambo, it doesn´t make em automatically the Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas from the description. That´s not Ill will but just the flaws of the labeling system. It´s  just natural that you can sometimes find a couple of different types growing at the same area. And because of that, seed collectors should give every single collection (instead of just the whole collection site) a unique number, so you can easier track them down and see which ones would fit in the descriptions and which ones don´t. And, in addition, you should even number the different mother plants.

Alright, what does that say about those two different plants labeled as KK1421. Well, very little. Both are interesting San Pedros and while one of them is definitely a Cuzcoensis type, the other one is inconsistent. It could have a Cuzcoensis background too though it isn´t as obvious as with the second plant. I am glad that I could show you some of the plants labeled as KK1421 Rio Tambo and if you should ever get seed with that label, it gives you a vague understanding of what might grow out of them.

 

KK1421 Trichocereus Cephalomacrostibas Rio Tambo